Guilty Minds

Secret. The third novel by Joseph Finder to feature private investigator Nick Heller is titled, Guilty Minds. A gossip website is about to issue a shocking article about the chief justice, and Nick has been hired to avert this scandal. He has just two days in which to get the job done. The plot moves quickly, and things are not as they appear to be, especially when a character is killed. Nick uncovers a secret and brings the case to a very satisfying conclusion. Fans of crime fiction and this series are those most likely to enjoy reading this entertaining novel. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase Guilty Minds from amazon.com.

The Unquiet Dead

Srebrenica. Readers who enjoy detective fiction may consider Ausma Zehanat Khan’s debut novel titled, The Unquiet Dead. Khan begins a series featuring two Canadian detectives, Rachel Getty and her boss, Esa Khattak. Esa asks Rachel to investigate the case of Christopher Drayton who died after falling from a cliff near his home. As the case unfolds, we learn that Drayton was living under an assumed name, and that his background involved participation in the Bosnian-Serbian war, and actions he performed in Srebrenica. Khan develops her characters with great skill, and the plot will satisfy most mystery lovers. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase The Unquiet Dead from amazon.com.

Killer Look

Fashion. Linda Fairstein’s 18th novel featuring Assistant District Attorney Alexandra Cooper is titled, Killer Look. Fans of the series will be delighted with the area of New York that gets Fairstein’s attention this time around: the garment district. There’s murder, the familiar cast of characters, lots of drinking and just the right number of Final Jeopardy episodes. Throughout this novel, Alex is recovering from the trauma she suffered in the last novel. That increased her drinking, and made her more vulnerable and less decisive. Nonetheless, crime fiction fans and loyal readers of this series will find a great story with some new things to learn about New York City and the fashion district. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase Killer Look from amazon.com.

The House of Secrets

Recovery. There were times while I was reading Brad Meltzer’s novel, The House of Secrets, that I felt like I was riding a roller coaster. The plot sped up and crashed before slowly building to the next twist. Protagonist Hazel-Ann Nash is trying to recover memories following an accident in which she and her brother were injured and her father, Jack, killed. Jack was the longtime host of a conspiracy television program, The House of Secrets. She struggles to regain her lost memories, and tries to differentiate between reality and imagination. There’s a link to Benedict Arnold at the heart of this novel, and stories that Jack told Hazel-Ann as a child provide clues to making sense of the present. Patient readers will be rewarded by the end with unraveling a complicated plot. Impatient readers may find easier entertainment elsewhere. Rating: Three-star (It’s ok) Click here to purchase The House of Secrets from amazon.com.

Under the Harrow

Sisters. Readers who enjoy crime fiction can start and finish Flynn Berry’s debut novel, Under the Harrow, in a single day. Protagonist and narrator, Nora, leaves London to visit her sister, Rachel, in Oxfordshire. Rachel has been stabbed multiple times in her home and is dead. Berry offers some backstory about the sisters as she builds suspense and suspicion while examining grief and what we don’t know about people close to us. After drawing readers into an understanding of the lives of Nora and Rachel, Berry brings the action to an abrupt ending. For some readers, this novel will provide just the right entertainment while at the beach or on an airplane. Rating: Three-star (It’s ok) Click here to purchase Under the Harrow from amazon.com.

The Capitalist

Con. The first novel I’ve read by Peter Steiner featuring former CIA operative Louis Morgon is the fifth in that series and is titled, The Capitalist. Morgon’s adversary in this novel is St. John Larrimer, a money manager who defrauded customers and fled with billions of dollars. Morgon lost money to Larrimer, but that didn’t set him on a path to con the con artist to bring him to justice. Morgon’s lover, Pauline, is distraught because her brother Jean-Baptiste was a victim of the scam. This novel is mostly crime thriller, but also an exploration of remorse and redemption, and ultimately satisfaction. Readers who like slow pacing in crime novels will enjoy this book. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase The Capitalist from amazon.com.

Modern Romance

Anthropology. I’ve been absent from the dating scene for more decades than I can reasonably remember, so reading Aziz Ansari’s book on the subject titled, Modern Romance, was like reading anthropological ethnography about an unfamiliar culture. One clear difference is that few ethnographies are this humorous. Were Ansari not so funny, I might have been totally confused and lost. If this book was entertaining to an old guy like me, it must be a real delight to anyone under age 40. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase Modern Romance from amazon.com.